Spartan Stoppers: Men's Basketball Trips up Tampa

Damien Dwaine had 10 points and seven rebounds in the win at Tampa. Photo by Joel Auerbach

TAMPA -- Barry won its second straight game and third in its past four Saturday, beating Tampa, 63-54.

Five players scored in double figures for the Buccaneers (12-12, 5-9 Sunshine State Conference).

"We were looking for each other," Barry forward Damien Dwaine said. "We passed the ball well. Nobody really took any bad shots. We took open shots, and we hit 'em."

It was the second straight game the Buccaneers held an opponent under 60 points. Tampa's 54 points were the second fewest Barry has held an opposing team to this year.

The Bucs led by as many as 11 less than five minutes into the second half in a game that had only two lead changes. The Spartans (16-11, 3-11 SSC) had a three-point lead with 8:29 remaining in the first half, but the Bucs closed the remainder of the half with a 14-3 run to take a 27-19 lead at the break.

"We went into the game looking at it like this was our conference championship," said Dwaine, who had 10 points, seven rebounds and a block. "It was a must-win. They've got two really talented players, so we knew it wasn't going to be an easy game. We just had to come ready to play."

The Buccaneers controlled the pace after they seized the lead for good at the tail end of the first half. Barry outscored the Spartans, 20-12, in the paint, despite getting outrebounded, 34-30. The Bucs went 17 of 42 from the field for 40.5 percent. Barry settled for just 10 triple tries, electing to go inside more for its offensive production. The Buccaneers were 4-for-10 from beyond the three-point arc.

Tampa shot 38.8 percent, hitting 19 of 49 field goals, including 9 of 25 from long range.

Barry hit 25 of 31 from the free throw line. Tampa was 7 of 14.

"That's a pretty big margin," said Dwaine, who was 8 of 11 from the stripe. "We were very aggressive."

The Buccaneers committed just seven turnovers with the starters combining for just one.

Justin McCoy was 7-for-10 from the line, finishing with 11 points. Magne Fivelstad, who reached double figures for the fifth straight game, had 13 points and six boards. He shot 5 of 5 from the floor, including a triple, and was 2 of 2 from the line.

Filip Toric scored 11 points, and grabbed six rebounds. Chad Renfro finished with 10 points, four boards and three steals.

The Buccaneers will finish up the regular season at Rollins Wednesday before playing its final game at Health & Sports Center this year against Nova Southeastern next Saturday on Senior Day.

"Just to finish out with three (conference) wins would be huge for us," Dwaine said. "We don't want to have to play four games to get to the conference championship."